SwiftVets.com

[NortonPete]

NOT! Last nights visit by Flipper

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/08/27/MNGG58FF5C1.DTL

Kerry's dinner in Santa Monica drew the Democratic faithful. They were met by a handful of protesters who held a brief demonstration in front of the hotel, the Fairmont Miramar.

For 20 minutes or so, a couple of dozen protesters gathered across the street from the hotel. One wore a Flipper costume, complaining about Kerry's alleged flip-flops on some issues, and another wore a Grinch outfit, complete with a lime green mask, criticizing Kerry's claim to have been in Cambodia at one point during his tour of duty as a highly decorated naval officer during the Vietnam War.

Inside the hotel, singer Tony Bennett was the featured entertainment for the few hundred supporters who paid $5,000 a plate to hear Kerry speak in a modest-sized ballroom. Some of the stars who showed up included Anjelica Huston and her husband, the sculptor Robert Graham.

Some people in the audience were worried about Kerry's campaign.

"It's been a horrendous month," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, referring to the attacks on Kerry's war record by Republican groups. "I think it's taken a toll."

Yaroslavsky believes the Kerry critics, many of them Vietnam War veterans, were organized by the Bush campaign, something the president has denied, and he charged that they fabricated their accounts. But Kerry had been hurt because he was relatively slow to respond, Yaroslavsky said.